Challenge Coins Division / Pièce de défi de division

Challenge coins are 1.5 inch in diameter, made from brass alloy, and die struck.  The coins are filled wih enamel colour fill.  Each coins comes with a plastic sleeve.

The tradition of challenge coins

The tradition of the challenge coin originated during WWI, when American volunteers joined newly formed flying squadrons. A lieutenant developed and gave a bronze coin to each of the members of his unit, one whom decided to keep it in a leather pouch around his neck.

This pilot was shot down and captured by the Germans, who took all his personal items and ID except for the pouch around his neck. He escaped into the French countryside, where he was unfortunately mistaken for a saboteur, and faced a firing squad. Without any other means of identifying himself as an American, the pilot presented the coin to the French. His execution was delayed and his identity confirmed by his unit thanks to the coin. Rather than shoot the pilot, they offered him a bottle of wine.

As a result, all the members of his squadron began a tradition of carrying the coin as a medallion. To ensure compliance, a challenge was created where one would ask the other to show their coin. If someone from the unit could not immediately produce the coin, the penalty was to purchase drinks for all the members of the group present. If all had the coin, the challenger would be responsible for the purchase.

The tradition has carried on around the world, with many elite groups adopting it as a means of proving fellowship and loyalty to their unit.   

During WWI, a lieutenant of an American flying squadron, developed and gave a coin to each of the members of his unit. When the coin became a means of identification that saved one member from execution, it became a tradition for the squadron to carry their coin at all times as a medallion. To ensure compliance, a challenge was created where one would ask the other to show their coin. If someone from the unit could not immediately produce the coin, the penalty was to purchase drinks for all the members of the group present. If all had the coin, the challenger would be responsible for the purchase.

The challenge coin tradition has carried on around the world, with many elite groups adopting it as a means of proving fellowship and loyalty to their unit.